Digital Agenda Funding

Project Status: Completed

Project Leader: Colm Mc Colgan

EU Programme: DG Regio Article 10

Project Budget: €2,961,000

Start Date: Apr, 1991

Finish Date: Mar, 1994

The aim of the project is to:

Devise and promulgate strategies to promote the application and use of telematics technologies to local and regional needs.

Specific objectives are to:

Compare the implementing strategies required to establish locaslised common information areas in border and non-border regions.
Actively promote the application of telematic technologies among all European regions by setting up an interregional Observatory.
Carry out interregional pilot actions focused on three themes, identified as key to help unblock information society at regional level.

Aalborg, Denmark
Aalborg Kommune(Partner)

Derry & Strabane, United Kingdom
Derry City & Strabane District Council(Partner)

Donegal, Ireland
Donegal County Council(Partner)

Galway, Ireland
Galway County Council(Partner)

West Flanders, Belgium
Leiedal Intercommunale(Partner)

Zeeland, Netherlands
Provincie Zeeland(Partner)

The ERNACT project, sponsored by the European Commission brought together a number of peripheral and central local/regional authorities of the European Union which have undertaken to work together in applying modern telecommunications to enhance the performance of their functions and, in the process, to establish interregional collaboration between them.

It was also envisaged that the project might test the relevance of telecommunications to advance the European Union ethos of economic and social cohesion. The operational management of the project was entrusted to the crossborder local authorities of Donegal County Council (Irl.) and Derry City Council (N.Irl) which established a European Economic Interest Grouping to give legal status to their role.

Strategic direction and assistance was given to the grouping by two interregional committees - one consisting of a technologist from each participating authority and the other consisting of officials and public representatives from these authorities.

A preliminary assessment indicated that there were major deficiencies in the way communications technology was applied by the participating authorities and that opportunities existed to exploit advances in the technology.